[snip] I think MySQL has a little ways to go yet before I would subjectively call it best.
I posted twice to the list with questions about porting my application that runs on (SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Sybase SQL Anywhere, MS Access, and DB2) to MySQL. No one on the mysql list, or the internals list responded to my pretty basic issues: 1) Why can't I declare a datetime field with DEFAULT NOW() 2) Since the SQL standard states that identifiers are not case sensitive, how can I use the DB without case sensitivity, when I don't have authority to change the system wide lowercase setting? I wouldn't have authority to change the setting in a hosted environment. I have to say, MySQL still looks like a tinker-toy to me. [/snip] Hi George, Allow me to reiterate that I was trying to inject some humor into what was fast becoming a rude situation. Having said that.... The list(s) where you post is not comprised of MySQL employees, it is made up of other users/volunteers who seek help and/or can be of help to others using the product. The list is often graced by several authors and people who are intimately invoved with MySQL development and we appreciate what little time they do have to offer for free. Sometimes these folks do not have the answers you are seeking. Let me see if I can help some with your issues. 1. I am supposing that with DEFAULT NOW() you are wanting the datetime field to be populated with the current datetime when the tuple is populated. (This is what I read from your question.) From http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/create-table.html "For date and time types other than TIMESTAMP, the default is the appropriate ``zero'' value for the type. For the first TIMESTAMP column in a table, the default value is the current date and time. See Section 11.3, "Date and Time Types"." Declaring the column type to be TIMESTAMP may be all that you need to do. I'll test... CREATE TABLE `tblTimeDate` ( `id` int(11) NOT NULL auto_increment, `theDate` date NOT NULL default '0000-00-00', `theTime` time NOT NULL default '00:00:00', `theDateStamp` datetime NOT NULL default '0000-00-00 00:00:00', `theTimeStamp` timestamp(14) NOT NULL, PRIMARY KEY (`id`) ) TYPE=MyISAM After doing a couple of inserts... INSERT INTO tblTimeDate(theDate) VALUES ('2005-06-09'); The table returns.... +----+------------+----------+---------------------+----------------+ | id | theDate | theTime | theDateStamp | theTimeStamp | +----+------------+----------+---------------------+----------------+ | 1 | 2005-06-09 | 00:00:00 | 0000-00-00 00:00:00 | 20050609063428 | | 2 | 2005-06-09 | 00:00:00 | 0000-00-00 00:00:00 | 20050609063438 | +----+------------+----------+---------------------+----------------+ You'll note that theTimeStamp column has data inserted into it without my prodding. I got this information by searching the online manual, I have never used this MySQL feature. I hope that this is what you were looking for. On case sensitivity (I found this in the online manual after two clicks), http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/name-case-sensitivity.html Here is the first paragraph and subsequent note.... "In MySQL, databases correspond to directories within the data directory. Tables within a database correspond to at least one file within the database directory (and possibly more, depending on the storage engine). Consequently, the case sensitivity of the underlying operating system determines the case sensitivity of database and table names. This means database and table names are not case sensitive in Windows, and case sensitive in most varieties of Unix. One notable exception is Mac OS X, which is Unix-based but uses a default filesystem type (HFS+) that is not case sensitive. However, Mac OS X also supports UFS volumes, which are case sensitive just as on any Unix. See Section 1.7.4, "MySQL Extensions to Standard SQL". Note: Although database and table names are not case sensitive on some platforms, you should not refer to a given database or table using different cases within the same query. The following query would not work because it refers to a table both as my_table and as MY_TABLE: mysql> SELECT * FROM my_table WHERE MY_TABLE.col=1;" There is a lot more on the issue of identifier case sensitivity. Since I have never been concerned with either of these issues I had to rely on a couple of things to come up with these answers. One, my past database experience with MySQL and other databases. And B, my ability to type some simple search terms into my browser address bar. (For instance, when searching for answers about identifiers I first typed http://www.mysql.com/identifiers into the address bar. When the page appeared one of the first links that I saw concerned case sensitivity.) One final note concerning your comments. Tinker-Toys were among the most popular toys of the mid to late 20th century and have made a resurgence early in this century. Your comparison of MySQL to Tinker-Toys in this light is spot on as MySQL has become one of the most popular databases this century. It is still a growing, evolving, maturing product whose feature list, it has been widely acknowledged, is not the same as some other database products. But MySQL is catching up fast! I sent this back to the list as well, in hopes that others may benefit from the questions and answers. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance. -- MySQL General Mailing List For list archives: http://lists.mysql.com/mysql To unsubscribe: http://lists.mysql.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]
